OK going to Cooper's (Llano) first time, help?

T

TXSooner518

250+ Posts
Thursday for lunch, I have to go to San Angelo for work, so I am stopping for lunch at Cooper's in Llano. Any tips, suggestions, must-haves, recs to avoid, etc, would be much welcomed.

My current top 3 cue places:
1) City Market, Luling, TX
2) Country Tavern, Kilgore, TX
3) Salt Lick, Driftwood, TX
with an RIP honorable mention to John Mueller's.
 
get in early enough (during a workweek i don't imagine that will be an issue). their brisket kicks ***, but if you show up at 3:00pm on a sunday it can be really dried out.

their jalapeno sausage is great as well.
 
My standard order:

1/2 lb brisket -- and remember, you can tell them to cut off whatever hunk looks good to you. Have them dip it in the sauce (it's watery, so it won't be sauce-covered afterwards).

A pork chop -- I like a smaller one, with lots of "outside" to it, for more flavor.

A hunk of goat, if they have it.

A couple of pork ribs.

Don't order any sides. Go inside, have them weigh and slice your meat, and get a cup of tea. Then go over to the free bean pot, and get a great bowl of pintos. Get some fresh onion to dice in it. Get a little bowl of sauce to dip your meat in. Sit down, eat till stuffed. Wrap up leftovers. Eat cold in car later on. Smile. Repeat as necessary.
 
brisket is great
biggest pork chops I've ever seen (they're amazing)
good sausage
Great ribs.

Dip it all in sauce, get some potato salad, free beans, and you're good to go.
 
Eat before you go.

Be sure to ask for them to trim the fat before they weigh it or they will charge you for it.

The beans are actually ok if you like 'em pretty bland. I also feel that their pickles and onions are good solid B.
 
God, I hope you're joking THEU. Cooper's hate combined with your pro-okra-in-gumbo-all-the-time point of view have painted you as a Rusty's Grill pariah in my eyes.
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The only part of THEU's post I agree with is to trim the fat (yes, you'll probably be charged a higher $ per pound in trade, but @ least the incentive to eat the crap is off the table).

The "sauce" is right there @ the open pit when you get the meat order... the'll either dip it directly into the juice (not so much a sauce) or ladle some over.

& I'm not a bean man, so can't speak to BriskeTexan's advice there. As for onions, my favorites are @ Riley's on 290 about 1/2 mile W of RR12 in Drippin'.

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cooper's is awesome. my second favorite behind city market

the only thing i don't really like there is the style of sausage they serve. i'll eat it, but i like the more crumbly kind

they let you pick your own cut, so complaining about the cut being too fatty doesnt make much sense

they do have great beans, real simple

i had a case out in llano not too long ago and would meet there for lunch with clients and witnesses who were locals. i'd load up with 4 meats and they'd always get enough for just two or three small slices of brisket and get several bowls of the free beans to fill up. that always cracked me up
 
I make the trip at least once a month. 176 miles round-trip.

I always get a pork chop and some smoked sirloin and one other meat. I had never heard of their cabrito before last month, then, when I went yesterday, I forgot about it. Damnit. I also highly suggest the beef short ribs
 
I'd say you have to try the pork chops for sure. These are my favorite and a must get. Also, brisket and pork ribs are great too. You really can't go too wrong with the other items.

Last time I was there, I got pretty much everything including the cobbler and jerkey and a bottle of sauce. I decided I'd try to take as much of the place home with me as I could.
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I love this place.

Beans have always been good when I've been too.

Enjoy!
 
Captain you have to know the okra things is more semantics than anything. I will readily admit it is because I am just being a hard *** about the whole thing.

I am sure Cooper's is good. I have just happened to have a couple bad experiences there that have truly clouded my judgement. I live near Belton and go to Schoef's and find their food to be as good if not better, and it is local. I was also a HUGE Hard 8 fan when I used to live near Stephenville. It really is a knock off of Cooper's as far as technique, but every cut I have gotten there was much better.
 
Not to hijack TXSooner's thread, but this brings up a question I have always wondered :

What is the relationship between Cooper's in Llano and
Cooper's in Junction. Same style of place / menu? Same family? No arguments about which is better... just if they are essentially 'the same'.
 
So with all the restaurant threads in Rusty's Grill, are we just dropping the "No Restaurants" rule? Just curious, this is the 6th or 7th one in the last week.
 
No sure on the relationship between all of them, but I THINK that each (Llano, Mason, Junction) is independently owned and operated. They are similar, but not the same.

Oh, and I am NOT a fan of Cooper's sausage. I prefer the coarse crumbly german type sausage (see Luling, Kreuz, etc.) It may be good for what it is -- I just don't care for the kind Cooper's has (it's more like ekrich to me). Hey, every place has to have a flaw somewhere.

Also, I don't much care for their smoked sirloin. It's too tough.

And I think their beans are mighty good -- they're simple, as good pintos should be. I add salt, a bit of Lousiana hot sauce, maybe a dash of the vinegarry Cooper's bbq sauce, and some fresh diced onion. Damned good vittles right there.

Goddamit. I'm hungry now.
 
Opie's in Spicewood is very good and truly reminds me the most of true Cooper's (Llano) barbque. Very good beef brisket and sausage...sauce isn't to Coopers standards, but it's not bad.


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I believe the owner of Cooper's in Mason is a brother or cousin or something of the owner of the Llano location. Having been to both, they essentially do things the same way, and I wouldn't necessarily score one higher than the other on taste. Llano is closer to most people than Mason, so it tends to get all the pub.

As for the OP, get what you normally would, but also get a pork chop. As many have stated, they are awesome.
 
i go to krause springs to swim pretty often in the summers, so i hit opie's a lot. very good, and it is like cooper's. i don't know this for a fact, but i've heard from more than one person that the owner of opie's used to work at cooper's in llano (pit man maybe), so that's where he learned.

they recently opened up in a new, bigger nicer buidlihg thats right on the highway instead of tucked off the raod a bit. last time i was there in addition to brisket i tried the smoked prime rib and it was surprisingly really good. not somethig i ussually get at que joint. and mm...butterbeans on weekends...

ed have you ever had baby back's at artz rib house in austin? just curious
 
"Opie's in Spicewood is very good and truly reminds me the most of true Cooper's (Llano) barbque. Very good beef brisket and sausage...sauce isn't to Coopers standards, but it's not bad. "

The guy who started Opies was the pitmaster at Coopers. So Opies almost as good and so much closer to Austin.

I can't believe you people that don't like fat on your brisket.

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TRIP REPORT

After visiting Cooper's in Llano today, all I can say is "haters, you must be out of your God damn mind."

I rolled up at about 1 PM today, and was immediately thrown a little off because there was no one in line. I was immediately on the spot at the pit, and so I felt a little rushed about seeing what all was available. My order went as follows:

1/2 pound brisket, cut from near the end to get the most 'crust'
1/2 rack pork ribs
big chop
1/2 link jalapeno sausage

This was a SHITLOAD of food. In fact, one of the only complaints I can think of is that the setup makes it tough for you to sample many meats. I mean 1/2 link of sausage is WAY more sausage than a full ring at City Market. Once you've tried everything, it'll be easier to make decisions. But for a rare visitor, who is a big fatface like me, makes it tough. Also, it is pretty expensive relative to some other places. That meat + drink ended up at $39. Now, this was enough for a huge lunch, and I have a big dinner sitting in the fridge right now waiting on me, but $20/per with no purchased sides or beer is on the high side of the range.

That said, those are two TINY quibbles, that are buried under the quality of the cue and the atmosphere.

For one, the pit itself is just a cue lover's dream. The sights and smells are sublime. The pit worker was quite friendly, and doused all my meat with sauce, as requested and slapped it on a tray. I went in, they sliced and packed it, I got a cup and went to the back. I got sauce, beans, onions and Diet Dr Pepper (also a big plus for me, love the DDP, considered sweet tea as well, and they do sell beer, but I'm actually not a big drinker with food for whatever reason. I like booze with Mexican food but that's about it. Otherwise, give me tea/soda, and I'll drink when I'm done. Also, this went on the work card, and alcohol they don't pay for.

ANYWAY, with those grabbed, and some slices of Butter Krust bread (loaves available right on the tables, which is great), I dug in.

First tried the pork ribs. I give these a solid 8.5/10. They were very meaty which was excellent. They were a TINY bit salty, but the general flavor and texture was fantastic. On par with City Market, trailing Country Tavern. I've yet to try Artz.

Next the brisket. OMG. SO good. Flavor, texture, all of it. A bit fatty, but that's what is GOOD. It's not like I would have bites of just fat, just added a bit of flavor. The 'char' is just outstanding. 10/10, which I also give the City Market brisket.

Then, the jalapeno sausage. The flavor on this is fantastic. The perfect mix of the jalapeno flavor and the meat, not too hot to overpower, but you knew you were eating jap sausage. Chunks of jap right in the sausage. I agree with a couple of posters that I prefer the 'crumbly' style of City Market, but this is def the best non-crumbly I've had, and a solid 8/10.

Big chop- Wow, this is a big ******* pork chop. Agree with Brisketexan that the 'outside' is where it's at. The inside is fantastic as well, but the outside is perfection. The wood flavor permeates the pork, and is a great great flavor. Anyone who hasn't had this because 'pork chops aren't barbecue' is missing out big time. I have had pork chops a lot of different ways, most pretty good, but this is the best I've had. 9.5/10.

As far as the rest: I thought the sauce was very good, bordering on excellent. I would prefer it a bit thicker, but that is quibbling, and it is a great complement to all the meats I had. The pintos were what pintos should be, and had great flavor with the bacon and peppers present in the vat. Don't see the hate, unless you dislike pintos. Employees were friendly. I like the foil and bag stand so you can wrap it up neatly to go.

Talked to a pit guy on the way out and he confirmed that this group is opening a Cooper's in New Braunfels later this year. Looking to make sure they can sell beer, and operate a shuttle to the river. OMFG. What a day that would be.

On a side note, as a food lover, I think that BBQ is probably the toughest food to get consistently perfect time after time. I don't think you can ever give up on a place after one bad experience. My fave is City Market, I've been 4 times. Two were 10/10, one was 9/10, one was probably 7/10. If I'd gone the time that was 7/10 first, I probably would have thought "meh, pretty good, overrated". The 3 other times, and countless accolades let me know what the true story usually is. Variance is high in BBQ.

Took me 30 years to get here, guaran-damn-tee it won't take 30 more to get back. Strongest recommendation. My overall list now looks like:

1. City Market, Luling, TX
2. Cooper's, Llano, TX
3. Country Tavern, Kilgore, TX

Thanks to those who posted advice, and also those who posted some additional eateries that I need to add to the tour plan.

I still haven't had Artz pork ribs, and haven't had Louie Mueller's which is criminal, as I live between Round Rock and Pflugerville, already 1/2 way there.
 
Thanks for reporting on your experience. That is an often overlooked detail by people seeking HornFans wisdom.

Cooper's and City Market are 1 and 1a on my list, and Louie Mueller's is very close behind them. Living in SA, if Cooper's opens in NB, I will be in big trouble (from a fatter and poorer perspective).
 
City Market in Luling is damn hard to beat. Cooper's is up there. Don't forget about Crosstown in Elgin...really good sausage.

Oh, and Rocky Creek BBQ stand off Hamilton Pool Rd. Absolutely the best brisket I've had (better than Cooper's).
 
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